xial vortices are ubiquitous in nature and technology. Wing-tip vortices or hurricanes are a few of the most identifiable example of an axial vortex. The axial vortex can be established by rotating the lid of a cylindrical container filled with a fluid. This flow, called the Vogel-Escudier flow, is a Canonical model to study vortex breakdown. The effect of thermal convection on axial vortex flows is investigated here by direct numerical simulation of governing equations. Navier- Stokes equations have been formulated to admit Rayleigh-B ́enard convection on one extreme (zero rotational Reynolds number, Re) and Vogel-Escudier flow on the other extreme (zero Rayleigh number, Ra). The simulations are done for a range of Ra ∈ [2×103, 2×107] and Re ∈ [300, 3000]. When the Re is increased, a central vortex core forms, which beyond certain Re breaks down to a vortex breakdown bubble at the axis. Upon increasing the heating, the symmetry of the flow breaks and flow supports rotating azimuthal waves. Thermal plumes align along the axis at large Re, along with the formation of large scale circulations, typically observed in classical Rayleigh B ́enard convection, at higher Ra. Increasing Ra results in two prominent flow regimes: a rotation dominated (RD) regime and a convection dominated (CD) regime. Flow structures can be extracted, that are unique makers of the flow regimes where rotation or convection dominates. The flow structures are studied and are associated with the spatial variation of heat flux. We examine the heat transfer (quantified by Nusselt number, Nu) to establish the scaling laws at the two regimes. The RD and CD regimes are identified based on the heat transport scaling exponent of Re and Ra respectively. The variations of thermal boundary layer thickness with Ra and Re also validates the heat transfer scaling laws. A parameter χ(Ra, Re) based on the scaling arguments is developed to demarcate the two regimes. This parameter χ has a predictive capability and we show from our results that ln(χ) > 10 indicate RD regime and ln(χ) 10 indicate CD regime respectively.